. >>> to capitol hill, now, where cia nominee, john brennan, has strongly defended the use of drones against terror targets. brennan told lawmakers that drone strikes are only used against targets planning to carry out attacks against the united states. never as retribution. he promised to tell congress every time the cia targets and kills suspected terrorists. >> if i were to go to cia and the cia was involved in any type of illegal activity, i would make sure this committee had that information. absolutely. >> after the hearing, intelligence committee chair, dianne feinstein, called for more openness about drone strikes. the senator says lawmakers may set up a special court to regulate those strikes. >>> and outgoing defense secretary leon panetta revealed the first time there was a plan in place to arm rebels in syria. but that plan was vetoed by the white house, over worries the weapons might fall into the wrong hands. more than 60,000 people have died in the civil war in syria. >>> and still to come on this busy friday morning, the very latest on the blizzard watch in the northeast. a storm th

: as soon as he became president, barack obama stopped cia tactics like waterboarding, that he considered torture. but this justifies outright killing of a suspected terrorist. how does dropping an bomb on an american citizen without any judicial review, any trial, not raise the very human rights questions or more human rights questions than something like waterboarding? >> the president understands the gravity of these issues. that's why he's committed to taking very seriously, both his responsibilities in this. >> reporter: the white house says the president's top priority has been protecting the american people in a way consistent with our values. but you can expect that his choice to run the cia will face sharp questions about this later this week at his confirmation hearings. and some in congress are trying to impose limits on the administration's ability to use drone strikes. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> and as congress tries to limit those drone strikes, the president has his own message for capitol hill about the economy. on march 1st, deep cuts to government spen

congress every time the cia plans to target and kill terrorists. >> if the cia was involved in any illegal activity, i would make sure this committee had that information. >> after the hearing, dine feinstein called for more openness about drone strikes. the senator says lawmakers may set up a special court to regulate those strikes. >>> outgoing secretary leon panetta revealed the first time there was a plan in place to arm rebels in syria. but that plan was vetoed by the white house, over worries the weapons might fall into the wrong hands. more than 650 people have died in the civil war. >>> coming up on this friday morning, the latest on the blizzard watch in the northeast. a storm that's on the move right now. >>> and then, did facebook break the internet. a software buzz last night left millions seeing error messages. >>> and the good news here at abc. robin roberts' return, now just a few days away. >>> and wel come back. there is more evidence this morning of a recovery in the jobs market. the number of americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week was down

obama's pick for cia director, john brennan, could face serious heat from members of the president's own party at his confirmation hearing this afternoon. democrats will likely demand answers about the use of unmanned drones to attack u.s. enemies overseas. brennan is the administration's point person on drones, the man who signs off on the kill list. >> i suggest to you that these targeted strikes against al qaeda terrorists are, indeed, ethical and just. >> reporter: the use of drones has grown 700% under the obama administration. we learned just yesterday, that america has a secret base in saudi arabia, used to send drones throughout the region. lawmakers will discover about a document that says american citizens tied to al qaeda can be killed if a high-level official believes the target poses an imminent threat. but the government can do so without having clear evidence. human rights advocates disagree. >> that justifies, essentially, a claim that the executive branch can be judge, jury and executioner. >> reporter: drone strikes have become controversial. in pakistan alone, there ha

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